About the School of Computer Science

The School of Computer Science is defining the foundations and advancing the frontiers of computing. Our mission is to invent the intellectual and architectural basis for computing; to educate students in the foundations and future of the field; to understand and realize the potential of computation, in algorithms, systems, software, architecture and networks; to invent and enable networks, computers and platforms that advance our knowledge and benefit society; to educate practitioners and future leaders of computer science; and to be at the forefront of research, education and service based on computer science.

Our School is broad. We span math to metal, from fundamental theoretical results to their use in solving real-world hardware and software systems problems.

We foster basic and well-grounded theory through our Algorithms & Randomness Center and ThinkTank (ARC), which identifies problems with natural connections to algorithms and randomness, helps solve these problems and understand related phenomena via provable algorithms and complexity-theoretic explanations, and formulates general tools as part of an emerging theory of algorithms.

We work closely with our industry partners, who bring to us real-world problems, data and evaluation environments—and who often eagerly hire our graduates. Our longest-standing example is the Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems (CERCS), an NSF Industry University Cooperative Research Center with a focus on the design and evaluation of computer and software systems through experimental methods. CERCS works closely with such companies as Boeing, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Wipro, Yahoo and other Atlanta-area partners.

Close collaboration with Georgia Tech's campus computing and networking organization, as well as our strong relationships with industry players, enables us to discover and solve problems that might otherwise be opaque or impenetrable. Our Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC) works closely with the campus IT group to discover, manage and recover from omnipresent and emerging cyber threats such as botnets and spam. In high performance computing, we interact closely with both Georgia Tech and nearby Oak Ridge National Labs.

We team with government and nonprofit agencies to help solve society’s most pressing problems. Our commitment to impact extends beyond papers and traditional technology transfer. We help drive the College’s Computing for Good agenda, which emphasizes solving real and immediate socially impactful problems in situ.

We educate students to be problem-solvers, capable of computational thinking and doing. And we maximize the advantages of being in a College of Computing, which provides us a breadth of ideas and the ability to tackle multi-faceted computing problems.

A Message from the Chair of Computer Science

Welcome to the School of Computer Science! These days nearly everything we do involves computers--whether they're sitting on our desks, in our pockets, in our cars or just out there in the “cloud." Faculty and students in our School develop the basic research and tools that power these computers now and into the future, from creating the newest and fastest chips (often with many cores working in perfect harmony), to making computers talk to each other reliably and securely, to developing the theoretical foundations and algorithms that continually push the limits of computation.

Our students are our proudest achievements. They go on to become leaders themselves in academia and industry. They become innovators in computing, whether in well-established Internet and computer companies. They launch startups based on projects started at Georgia Tech. In short, they amaze us—every day.

Whether you are a prospective student, a parent, a colleague, a potential faculty member, an employer or an interested friend, we invite you to learn more about us. And we invite you to join us, to become our partners and help us tackle tomorrow’s computing challenges today.